History/tl
The xat website has evolved a lot since its creation in 1998. The timeline below provides a short summary of its history.
1998
xat was first founded as an Image Optimizer that allowed people to convert, resize and edit their images. One of the key features of the Image Optimizer was Digimarc digital watermarking that added copyright information to images.
2000
The Image Optimizer became complex over time with more tools such as MagiCompression that can halve the size of images automatically.
2001
"xatShow" was invented to make image slideshows and screensavers with various effects. It also allowed Flash or Java slideshows for websites and on your TV by using DVD or CD players.
Later on, WebSpeed Simulator was created to help design more efficient web pages by previewing your web page at the speed of real world dial-up connections.
2005
The first rebranding of xat.com occurred. "xatquiz" was made to play and make your own quizzes that can be uploaded for others or burned to a DVD.
2006
Rebranding occurred again with a focus on chat boxes and web gear, described as "Free stuff for your website. Get a free poll, chat, room, quiz, slideshow and room 101 for your web site or MySpace." This was considered the first introduction to chat boxes, which also included smilies. The Lobby chat room was created as the first "group".
2007
Lobby, Ignition, Flirt and Illusion were the first chatrooms to be created and advertised as actual groups. By late summer, xat was rebranded again to become a social network. Chat audies, the xat wiki and the community forum were introduced. Towards the end of 2007, the site was generally known for being very social through the promotion of various chats and a large growth of users.
2008
The ticket system was created for users to contact xat volunteers and admins concerning their accounts. By spring, subscriptions for xats and the transfer feature was introduced. Ultra smilies and kisses were also available to subscribed users.
Towards the end of the year, the group directory & universe page listed every chat that was ever made.
2009
Powers were introduced, which lead to the creation of the trade engine and more demand for xat subscriptions. Purple was released as xat's first epic power.
Later on, Allpowers was established as a set of powers that gives you some extra abilities on the chat.
xat's first mobile platform (m.xat.com) was introduced, but was later scrapped for a mobile app instead. In September, xat officially launched a Twitter page to share news and updates.
A new security feature, account locking, was added to block any login attempts that are not coming from your home location.
xat released a total of 59 powers (13 limitado, 45 unlimited, 1 feature(s))
Smiley powers (14)
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Limitado: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Fruit, Angel, Six, Diamond, Heart Unlimited: Anime, Sport, Costumes, Hairf, Hairm, Hands |
Feature(s) (1)
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Allpowers |
Pawns (1)
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Unlimited: Pink |
Epic powers (1)
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Unlimited: Purple |
Function powers (42)
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Limitado: Snowy, Gag, Fade, Boot, Clear Unlimited: Stick, Count, Status, Hush, Num, Radio, Mute, Dood, Ttth, Sinbin, Guestself, Invisible, Superkick, Show, Octogram, Hexagon, Cycle, Nameglow, Square, Animate, Shuffle, Light, Blue, Green, Red, Hat, Tempmod, Nopc, Reghide, Noaudies, Mirror, Invert, Nofollow, Zoom, Mod8, Subhide, Topman |
2010
The first group power, Banish, was released in store.
In addition, xat released the Supporter group power which lets you support your favourite chat group. Groups with the most assigned supporters appear at the top of the supported groups page on xat's homepage.
xat released a total of 50 powers (18 limitado, 32 unlimited)
Smiley powers (15)
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Limitado: Ugly, Angry, Shocker, Adventure, Summer, Independence, Scifi, Military, Easter, Irish, Valentine Unlimited: Fantasy, Silly, Circus, Party |
Pawns (1)
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Unlimited: Blueman |
Epic powers (1)
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Unlimited: Namecolor |
Group powers (21)
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Limitado: Gkkitty, Gkbear, Fairy, Feast, Horror, Blastde, Gkaliens Unlimited: Love, Gscol, Link, Winter, Blastkick, Bad, Blastban, Blastpro, Sea, Gcontrol, Supporter, Gline, Gkaoani, Banish |
Function powers (12)
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Unlimited: Barge, Single, Mint, Rapid, Flag, Tickle, Tempown, Bump, Nopm, Flashrank, Tempmem, DX |
2011
Gifts were created for users to send presents and cards to other users, and being able to view them through the gift application on the chat.
Bot power was introduced for users to connect their own bot to their chatroom.
xat released a total of 47 powers (25 limitado, 2 unlimited)
Smiley powers (26)
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Limitado: Newyear, Sparta, Reindeer, Snowman, Manga, Kdog, Carve, Kchick, School, Nerd, Stoneage, Flower, Candy, Beach, Work, Wildwest, Outfit, Sins, Unwell, Hero Unlimited: Peace, Punch, Kpeng, Dance, Space, Zodiac |
Pawns (1)
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Limitado: Gold |
Epic powers (1)
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Unlimited: Gback |
Group powers (12)
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Limitado: Spooky, Matchban, Spaceban, Gkpanda Unlimited: Santa, Mazeban, Bot, Snakeban, Banpool, Animal, Rankpool, Announce |
Function powers (7)
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Unlimited: Dunce, Away, Silentm, Zap, Events, Music, Spin |
2012
Facebook login was available during this time that showed a Facebook icon next to your homepage. However, this was scrapped later on. Account authentication was also made available for more account security.
Furthermore, the xavi feature was added to create custom face avatars, allowing for more customization through a selection of different head shapes, hairstyles, eyes etc. and games such as doodlerace, matchrace, snakerace and spacewar were released for even more entertainment.
EveryPower was made, giving you a ruby pawn if you have at least one of each power that xat has released but it was later changed to an Emerald pawn.
The auction system was finally made for users to bid for unique identification numbers (IDs) and powers.
xat released a total of 48 powers (30 limitado, 17 unlimited, 1 feature(s))
Smiley powers (34)
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Limitado: Quest2, Claus, Treefx, Vampyre, Drop, Clockfx, Pony, Poker, Kpig, Aliens, Olympic, Whirlfx, Drip, Vortexfx, Kbee, Nursing, Fuzzy, Blobby, Ksheep, Kat, Movie, Carnival, Kduck, Spy, Can Unlimited: Glitterfx, Quest, Speech, Moustache, Jail, Spiralfx, Monster, Heartfx, Magicfx |
Feature(s) (1)
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EveryPower |
Group powers (8)
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Limitado: SpaceWar, MatchRace Unlimited: Lang, SnakeRace, DoodleRace, Gsound, Reverse, Codeban |
Function powers (5)
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Limitado: Burningheart, Zip, Pulsefx Unlimited: Typing, Topspin |
2013
xat's website was revamped using the Bootstrap framework, which is the most popular HTML, CSS and JS framework.
Due to the strong diversity on the site, the translate system was developed on the wiki so that users of all cultures and languages can understand each other better.
xat released a total of 56 powers (28 limitado, 28 unlimited)
Smiley powers (42)
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Limitado: Hogmanay, Celebrate, Winterland, Blackfriday, Froggy, Piracy, Halloween2, Scary, Ani1, Eggy, Kdemon, Kangel, Fruities, Romance, Cuboid, Cactus, Wedding, Hair2f, Seaside, Kcow, Kfox, Eggs, Spring, Stylist, Kheart, Makeup, Eighties, Kmouse Unlimited: Toys, Noel, Autumn, Weather, Sticky, Marriage, Phasefx, Fourth, Germ, Super, Sketch, Hands2, Kmonkey, Zombie |
Group powers (6)
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Unlimited: Zwhack, Redirect, Darts, Switch, Hearts, Vote |
Function powers (8)
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Unlimited: Badge, Kickall, Slotban, Statusglow, Led, Nuclear, Foe, Xavi |
2014
The default smiley bar and free smilies were updated, giving a new stylized and fresh look.
xat released a total of 50 powers (29 limitado, 21 unlimited)
Smiley powers (41)
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Limitado: Holidays, Reveal, Gamefx2, Blueoni, Creepy, Trickortreat, Ksun, Kmoon, Chocolate, Bird, Instruments, Blubunni, Coolz, Cutie, Ballfx, Gamefx, Hamster, Coffee, Springy, Butterflies, Snail, Tongues, Luck, Cupcake, Ladybug, Arachnid, Farm, Cooking Unlimited: Lunar, Icebucket, Jump, Magic, Winner, Rocks, Worldcup, Dreams, Easteregg, Bitefx, Random, Sweetheart, Divorce |
Epic powers (1)
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Unlimited: Statuscolor |
Group powers (4)
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Unlimited: Manage, Summerflix, Eventstats, Springflix |
Function powers (4)
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Limitado: Yellowcard Unlimited: Size, Pcback, Naughtystep |
2015
The ME power was established for more customization through users' xatspaces with almost no xat branding and much more CSS space.
Choirhug was released as xat's first hug power, an animation clip that can be sent in the main chat or private chat.
Mobilebeta allowed users to participate in the testing of the mobile version of xat for Android devices, but it is now just a regular smiley power.
xat released a total of 50 powers (36 limitado, 14 unlimited)
Smiley powers (40)
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Limitado: Ornaments, Beautifly, Tigers, Witch, Allhallows, Kstar, Roosters, Kandle, Glob, Reaper, Planets, Lions, Transport, Poke, Microbe, Shells, Vacation, Aquatic, Ceebear, Gothic, Aliblue, Shinobi, Floral, Eco, Beastie, Clouds, Tv, Birthday, Valfx, Amore, Jewelry, Retro, Egyptian Unlimited: Precious, Me, Balloonfx, Pets, Mobilebeta, Easterlove, Oids |
Epic powers (2)
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Limitado: Big Unlimited: Redcard |
Group powers (1)
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Unlimited: Backup |
Function powers (4)
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Unlimited: Ranklock, Nick, Supercycle, Offset |
Hug powers (3)
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Limitado: Fireworkshug, Sleighhug Unlimited: Choirhug |
2016
Both android and iOS apps were released in the app stores, providing a mobile platform for xat with features such as notifications from private chats, favorite groups, power store and more.
The community forum was updated with a new modern look featuring better notifications, a user club feature, a bug tracker and much more.
To celebrate xat's 10th anniversary, over 600 limited pawns became available as well as 42 free new smilies.
xat released a total of 50 powers (35 limitado, 15 unlimited)
Smiley powers (19)
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Limitado: Sparklefx, Gobble, Cadet, Elephant, Kwolf, Summerland, Worm, Animegirl, Koala, Onion, Caterpillar, Mining, Lovemix, Paints, Ricebowl, Electricity, Masks Unlimited: Comics, Earthday |
Epic powers (3)
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Unlimited: Nameflag, Namewave, Namegrad |
Hug powers (24)
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Limitado: Battle, Christmix, Funfair, Graveyard, Boo, Fall, Meow, Popcorns, Aprincess, Tooth, Diva, Chores, Mom, Fools, Ebunny, Patrick Unlimited: Fireworksfx, Tropicalxmas, Classic, Ten, Summerhug, Songkran, Easterland, Lovehug |
Jinx powers (4)
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Limitado: Spacejinx, Eggjinx Unlimited: Hangjinx, Jumblejinx |
2017
xat Facebook was officially launched, a project ran by volunteers with help from the community. The idea was for it to be the opposite of xat's twitter, posting more interactive posts and updates around the whole community.
HTML5 chat development started, a change that was necessary due to Flash quickly becoming obsolete.
xat released a total of 53 powers (33 limitado, 20 unlimited)
Smiley powers (34)
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Limitado: Xmasfactory, Kxmas, Fitness, Yoga, Plants, Skull, Owlie, Firefx, Nightmare, Cuticorn, Kloud, Minimon, Ghostmon, Splashfx, Drawn, Eggie, Hedgehog, Ribunny, Anichick, Foolsday, Toad, Spacefx, Mousie, Kgiraffe, Lovemix2, Mountain, Kaoears Unlimited: Puppy, Travel, Fiesta, Broadcaster, Fishbowl, Neon, Lovefx |
Pawns (1)
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Unlimited: Ruby |
Group powers (1)
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Unlimited: Superblastban |
Function powers (8)
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Unlimited: Goodfriend, PCBR, Mark, Flgpwn, Silentban, Sline, Rapidreason, X2D |
Hug powers (9)
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Limitado: Halloscroll, Octo, Kveggie, Kawaii, Earth, Lovetest Unlimited: Flaghug, Xmasscroll, Wish |
2018
The HTML5 beta chat was released to the public, which compared to Flash has a significant decrease in lag and features such as browser notifications, a new power view, an edit dialog with a live preview and much more.
xat introduced super powers, which are sets of current powers you need to make a collection. A collection gives you the ability to use old themed pawns. Superanime was the first super power collection.
Later on, a new web interface was released on xat's homepage and on HTML5 chats that gave xat a new modern look.
By late 2018, Appbot power was released to allow users to create custom applications and games to run in the chat, through the new Canvas application on HTML5.
xat released a total of 48 powers (27 limitado, 17 unlimited, 4 collection(s))
Smiley powers (33)
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Limitado: Kactus, Snowflake, Wigs, Kcar, Glasses, Gorilla, Gesture, Suspense, Slimefx, Ktree, Raccoons, Glitch, Portalfx, Koffee, Baghead, Guineapig, Kitcup, Birdie, Hippos, Patrickfx, Accessory, Illusionfx, Nuts, Dragons, Sqanimal Unlimited: Swordfx, Piggy, Muertos, Eyeeye, Money, Seasons, Bestfriend, Samba |
Group powers (2)
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Unlimited: Rankscroll, Superblastkick |
Function powers (6)
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Unlimited: Appbot, Faceoff, Opacity, Pcplus, Hats, Botstat |
Collection(s) (4)
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Superxmas, Superhalloween, Supersummer, Superanime |
Hug powers (3)
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Limitado: Pizzas, Heartbreak Unlimited: Cups |
2019
Category was released as xat's first HTML5 power that allows you to organize your friends list.
Then, in May 2019, Fido was the first sticker power. Stickers were released exclusively for the HTML5 chat and are relatively bigger in size than typical smiley powers.
Over the course of 2019, the HTML5 version of the chat/site saw various features and improvements including a new Trade application, power previews, an updated store page, updated games and much more.
xat released a total of 48 powers (36 limitado, 8 unlimited, 4 collection(s))
Smiley powers (33)
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Limitado: Superboy, Khair, Marshie, Tech, Trains, Fashion, Skunk, Time, Meerkat, Mime, Kbacks, Easterfx, Catnmouse, Balloony, Swimming, Ahair, Heat, Baby, Creature, Acting, Dinosaur, Umbrella, Hairb, Workout, Fear, Spookies, Woodland, Blacksale, Xmastime Unlimited: Valentinefx, Morph, Tshirt, Energyfx |
Function powers (1)
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Unlimited: Category |
Collection(s) (4)
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Superheart, Superhobbies, Superscary, Supersanta |
Sticker powers (10)
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Limitado: Max, Mythy, Nin, King, Kris, Neva, Revel Unlimited: Fido, Nat, Couple |